


Sending Your Heart Out

by Creme13rulee



Series: Word Study [3]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: 18OI AU Week 2019: Day 2, Adoption, Autism, Family Feels, M/M, Trans Character, Trans Katsuki Yuuri, Trans Male Character, Transphobia, the katsuki-nikiforovs and kindergarten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 22:05:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19094017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creme13rulee/pseuds/Creme13rulee
Summary: In Word Study- verse.  Viktor and Yuuri struggle with sending their daughter Akari to school.For 18OI AU Week 2019: Day 2 School/college





	Sending Your Heart Out

“Katya! Slow down!” Viktor called down the sidewalk. Yuuri was still busy extricating Nikolai from his carseat and their daughter was already half a block away.

She skidded to a stop, pouting as she folded her arms in front of her chest and waited. “Papa, you don’t need to yell at me. I’m excited.” 

“I know you are, Katyusha, but you need to be safe.” Viktor looked back at his husband, their little boy hopping from the car down to the pavement. Viktor had never imagined trading in his hot pink convertible for a minivan-- and he hadn’t--- but he couldn’t remember the last time they’d driven it anywhere. It was still back in Russia, in storage for when they visited Yakov over the summer.

“Maybe we should move. What if no one speaks English? Akari’s only heard Japanese from mom and dad and Mari.” Yuuri launched into worrying the second he caught up with Viktor, Nikolai’s tiny hand in his. “There’s probably an international kindergarten in Fukuoka… we could commute when they need help at the onsen..”

“Otousan! We’re gonna be late!” Akari chirped, spinning on her heel. She was currently wearing an Elsa dress from their last trip to Tokyo Disney. Viktor had laid out the perfect outfit for their first meeting with Hasestu’s Himawari Kindergarten, but then Nikolai had put up a fight and they had left the house without picking another battle. 

Yuuri sighed. Nikolai walked obediently by his side.  
“It’s fine, moya lyubov. Akari is smart, she’ll do fine anywhere.” Viktor wrapped his arm around Yuuri’s waist. 

“But is it the best placement for her?” Yuuri switched to Russian in the off chance that anyone spoke English at the kindergarten.

“Yuuri, my darling. Akari is Akari and Niko is Niko. If this doesn’t work for her, we’ll find a new place.”

It was hard to soothe Yuuri’s anxiety sometimes, especially when his heart was in the right place. They had expected Nikolai’s adoption and raising him to be easier after having a years practice and warning with Akari. But then Nikolai had started missing his developmental milestones at the doctor, before he stopped playing with his older sister, By the time they started looking at enrolling Akari in kindergarten, they had a formal diagnosis of Autism. Finding a developmental preschool and therapy placements for Nikolai had taken precedent, and Yuuri had fretted about not spending weeks researching kindergarten for Akari like he had for Nikolai’s therapy.

They ended up enrolling in the same kindergarten Yuuri had attended decades earlier, although none of the teachers had been there when Yuuri was.

The headmaster met them at the front gate, bowing to Viktor and Yuuri and patting Akari on the head. Nikolai mimicked her, bobbing while they switched into the rubber slippers and went to the headmasters office. Akari went right for the marble maze set on a bright carpet, her little brother following close after her.

“Please have a seat, Katsuki-san.” The headmaster, an older woman in a dark suit motioned to the leather couch. She poured them mugs of the coffee Viktor hated-- too strong and burnt. He still drank coffee from Russia every morning.

“Akari is very sweet. She looks like she could be your child.” The headmaster commented as she slid the mugs of coffee, a wrapped cookie sitting on the saucer next to the mug.

“She is.” Yuuri bit, his jaw tightening. Viktor rested his hand on top of Yuuri’s, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Oh, of course! I just didn’t know how many haafu are adopted abroad.” The headmaster blinked. “She just looks the perfect mix of you two. Does she skate too?”

“She’s not haafu. She’s full Russian and full Japanese.” Viktor felt his own jaw tighten. “ But we’re here to talk about this school, right?”

“You’re not using polite speech.” Yuuri hissed under his breath in Russian. Viktor blinked, leaning into his husband's ear.

“You don’t have to out yourself, Yuuri. It’s none of her business.” Viktor said in Russian, straightening his back and smiling at the headmaster. “Akari can speak three languages and she can write her name in all of them too.”

“She got that from me,” Yuuri added, squeezing Viktor’s hand. Akari was animatedly telling her little brother what to do, declaring herself the king of the castle and Nikolai her servant. Yuuri had no idea how that related to the marble toy, but Akari was just as creative as her papa.

Yuuri downed his entire cup of coffee during the meeting, blaming the caffeine for his jitteriness during the school tour. It was the strong coffee, and not the ache at seeing his daughter easily join in on a game on the playground or seeing another adult smile at his baby.

 

“We’re happy to have you and Akari at our school.” The headmaster said when they had returned to the office. She cleared her throat. “There’s just one thing…”

“Yes?” Viktor watched Akari hang off her brother, smothering him with hugs and kisses. He hated that the headmaster had brought up Akari’s looks. She did have Yuuri’s dark hair and eyes, but she had Viktor’s smile and tendency to sunburn and freckle. Nikolai didn’t look like either of them, but it didn’t matter. They were equally Katsuki-Nikiforovs, and equally loved with their parents entire hearts.

“On the paperwork….” The headmaster sucked air through her teeth.

Yuuri’s shoulders rose subconsciously. “It’s correct. I’m Katsuki Yuuri.”  
Viktor frowned, looking to his husband, who had taken care of all the paperwork due to it being entirely in Japanese.

Yuuri looked up at Viktor. “I’m listed as her mother.” He said flatly.

“They didn’t know we’re gay?” Viktor turned to face his husband, biting the words out in his mother tongue.

“They only accepted the paperwork from the government. That was the only form.” Yuuri fidgeted. “I… I couldn’t fight it.”

“Why not? You’re her otousan, not her mother.”

“Not here, please?” Yuuri’s voice shook, and Viktor felt sick with guilt. They said their goodbyes, the headmaster walking them back to the gate. They got to the car, buckling Niko in before Viktor couldn’t bear it.

Yuuri blinked back tears, his shoulders stiff with the crest of a panic attack. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Viktor reached out for Yuuri, unsure if he wanted to be touched or not.

“I should have told you…” Yuuri gulped. “My mother forged my medical records.”

Viktor frowned. 

“In Japan, you have to be sterilized before you can transition to another gender.” Yuuri hiccuped. “I t-thought that maybe Fukuoka-ken didn’t enforce it… but when we came back with Akari, my mother told me…”

Viktor nodded slowly, scared of what was coming next.

“She worked with Minako-sensei to forge the paperwork saying I was sterilized.”

“But you’re on the birth certificate.” Viktor blinked. “Is… is this why you took Russian citizenship?”

Yuuri nodded, staring at the pavement under his feet. “In Russia, I’m still male.”

“Oh Yuuri…” Viktor gasped, pulling his husband into his arms. “We can move back. We can figure something out.”

“No. It’s okay. I just… I was scared that it wouldn’t work out.”

“I know a few ambassadors--”

“Vitya. Please. This isn't about me. It’s about Akari… and my mom… and my family.”

“Papa! Tousan! I’m boooored!” Akari called from her booster seat, kicking her mary-jane clad feet impatiently. “I miss you!”

“I can’t believe she learned how to use puppy eyes. It’s all your fault.” Yuuri sighed, looking back toward the car and rubbing his eyes on his sleeves.

“Yuuri… you don’t have to do this. We could get the paperwork fixed.” Viktor murmured, tucking a lock of hair behind Yuuri’s ear tenderly.

“It’s okay. Really. I mean… did you see her face? She couldn’t imagine me being Katya’s mother. That means I’m really passing even without the paperwork.”

“Of course you pass, you’ve passed since before I fell in love with you in Sochi.” Viktor sighed. Yuuri wrinkled his nose.

“You did. My little gay heart couldn't handle it.” Viktor kissed Yuuri’s nose.

“Papa! Helloooo!” Akari sighed, draping her arm dramatically across her face and slumping down in her seat. “I’m dying!”

“That’s your fault too.” Yuuri smiled.


End file.
